SAUDI NOVELISTS' RESPONSE TO TERRORISM THROUGH FICTION: A STUDY IN COMPARISON TO WORLD LITERATURE

The post-9/11 period has posited new questions for the Saudi society that required answers from different perspectives. The Saudi novelists tackled the issue of terrorism in their works and tried to define it and dig for its roots. Some blame the dominant religious-based culture for this phenomenon asking for more openness in the Saudi culture. Others take a defensive approach of the religious discourse blaming outside factors for this phenomenon. This positively connoted research uses the principles of deductive research and puts the Saudi novels that treat the theme of terrorism on par with some world literature that have the same concern excavating the common patterns such as (a) drive for terrorism and the lifestyle of a terrorist; (b) extreme religious groups and religious discourse; and (c) way of life: liberal West versus the Islamist. The selected novels are in three languages: Arabic, Urdu and English. Al-Irhabi 20 and Terrorist explore the background and transformation of the terrorists. Jangi, and Qila Jungi share almost identical events and ideological background, they explain the reasons for apparently irresistible attraction for Jihad. Along such a dichotomy, one can find varied degrees of analysis through a psycho-analytical and textual perspective.